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It could be a rare chance for ordinary investors to buy into the Green Rush.

Here’s your daily round-up of pot-news, excerpted from the newsletter WeedWeek. Download WeedWeek’s free 2016 election guide here.

Innovative Industrial Properties, a cannabis Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange. Led by experienced real estate executives, it plans to sell $175M worth of shares. The deal is the first of its kind.

An attorney’s opinionated rant against marijuana in a Michigan courtroom last week cost her a case, even though most seemed to agree she had won.
In her closing arguments in a case against a Michigan medical cannabis patient accused of growing more than he was allowed, Alger County prosecutor Karen Bahrman went off on a tear on the state’s medical marijuana laws, the Alger Hemp Coalition, a local cannabis advocacy group, and patients in general. She said their vision was to live in a “country where everybody can walk around stoned.”

Brandon Coats and his attorney Michael Evans.


The Colorado Supreme Court yesterday heard oral arguments on why medical marijuana patients should have the right to use their medicine off work.
As we wrote on Monday, the case stems from the firing of Brandon Coats, a paraplegic former DISH Network call-center operator who tested positive for marijuana in a drug test but contends that he was never high on the job. He says he was open about his medical cannabis use to his bosses, and that they simply targeted him for firing knowing a hot test would mean the end of his job.

Cannabis users across the state of Washington sparked up to celebrate the passage of Initiative 502 last year, which legalized the personal use and possession of up to one ounce of marijuana for anyone over the age of 21. I-502 still prohibits the consumption of marijuana in public places, and driving under the influence of marijuana, but along with the state of Colorado, Washington seems poised to blaze a new trail for marijuana legalization.

Eliza Wiley/Helena Independent Record
Chris Williams: :”[T]he extraordinary circumstances of this case do warrant my taking additional legal advice and possible new legal counsel”

The conviction of Montana medical marijuana provider Chris Williams, convicted of violating federal law, took another twist on Tuesday when his defense attorney, Michael Donohoe, filed a motion to withdraw from the case.

Donahoe said he believes that when Williams heard about an Ohio State law professor and legal blogger criticizing aspects of the case, his client lose confidence in Donahoe’s ability to present the best defense possible, with sentencing coming up on February 1, reports Eve Byron at the Helena Independent Record.

Medical Marijuana Legal Blog

Fourth District Court of Appeal rejects requirement that all collective members must be actively involved in cultivation
The Fourth District Court of Appeal for California on Wednesday issued a unanimous published ruling in a landmark medical marijuana case that reverses the conviction of a San Diego dispensary operator, Jovan Jackson, convicted in September 2010 after being denied a defense in state court. Wednesday’s historic ruling also reversed the lower court’s finding that Jackson was not entitled to a defense, providing the elements for such a defense in future jury trials.
“This landmark decision not only recognizes the right of  dispensaries to exist and provide medical marijuana to their patient members, it also grants a defense for those providers in state court,” said Joe Elford, chief counsel with Americans for Safe Access (ASA), a medical marijuana advocacy group. Elford also argued Jackson’s appeal before the court.

Rose Shields
Ed “NJWeedman” Forchion was found not guilty of marijuana distribution by a jury of his peers on Thursday

Here’s some great news: It’s getting harder and harder for hapless, overwhelmed prosecutors to get a marijuana conviction in the United States — even when the amount in question is a pound, and the charges are distribution, not simple possession.

Such became obvious Thursday afternoon in a Mount Holly, New Jersey, courtroom, when a jury found Ed “NJWeedman” Forchion not guilty in the cannabis activist’s marijuana distribution case, reports Danielle Camilli of PhillyBurbs.com.
The decision came after Forchion was almost held in contempt of court Thursday morning as he delivered his closing argument. NJWeedman tried to introduce his jury nullification argument into the closing, but Superior Court Judge Charles Delehey, who had already barred any discussion of it, quickly stopped him.

K.C. Alfred/Sign On San Diego
Jovan Jackson, manager of a now-defunct medical marijuana dispensary in Kearny Mesa, is accused of illegally selling cannabis

Advocates fight to overturn a wrongful conviction and preserve the right to a medical marijuana defense
Appellate court oral arguments are set to occur Thursday in a widely watched medical marijuana dispensary case that raises the question of what defines a legitimate dispensary. Nearly a year ago, medical marijuana patient advocacy group Americans for Safe Access (ASA) appealed the September 2010 conviction of San Diego dispensary operator Jovan Jackson.

THC Finder

High Court prohibits municipalities from using Pack v. City of Long Beach to ban dispensaries
The California Supreme Court dismissed review on Wednesday of an important appellate court ruling affecting medical marijuana dispensaries throughout the state. Specifically, the High Court threw out the controversial decision in Pack v. City of Long Beach, which previously held that federal law preempted some forms of dispensary regulations.
The Pack decision has been used by several municipalities, including Los Angeles and Long Beach, to suspend or ban outright the distribution of medical marijuana. However, Wednesday’s dismissal of the Pack decision throws into question the viability of such bans.
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